2-time NBA champ disses pickleball, calls offended people ‘lil b——s’

Former Houston Rockets guard and two-time NBA champion Vernon Maxwell has taken shots at Miami Heat star Tyler Herro in light of the scuffle that took place late in the Dec. 29 matchup between the Heat and Rockets.

He took to X to earlier in the week to express his dissatisfaction with the fact that Amen Thompson was handed a two-game suspension for his role in the confrontation while Herro received just a fine. Thompson wasn’t the only player to be punished with a suspension, as Heat guard Terry Rozier was suspended for one contest.

Then on Thursday, Maxwell used the sport of pickleball to diss an X user who claimed that Thompson should be suspended for the remainder of the season if not permanently.

Maxwell doubled down on his social media post where he dissed the sport of pickleball and used an expletive to refer to those who were offended by his remarks.

Thompson has served one game of his suspension, as he didn’t suit up when the Rockets played the Dallas Mavericks on the first day of the new year. Houston still beat the defending Western Conference champions by 11 points even sans the defensive ace.

He will have served the totality of his suspension after he sits out the Rockets’ upcoming matchup against the Boston Celtics on Jan. 3. It’s unfortunate that Thompson won’t be eligible to play against the Celtics, as Houston could really use a wing defender of his caliber to defend one of Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum.

Thompson will be available to return to the lineup after a short absence when the Rockets take on LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Jan. 5.

Considering all that Maxwell accomplished during his playing days as a member of the Rockets, it’s easy to see why he came to Thompson’s defense on X after details regarding suspensions and fines from the fight were made public. He played with the likes of Kenny Smith, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler back in the day, and he was a member of the Rockets when they won back-to-back titles in 1994 and 1995.